For the first time in the 2014 Dakar Rally, which takes riders 5427 miles in 13 days, the overall lead has changed. The switch in the lead occurred during Thursday’s stage five, which took riders 327 miles from Chilecito to Tucuman, Argentina.

The stage was shortened due to extremely hot temperatures, and this helped propel three-time Dakar winner Marc Coma to the top. The Red Bull KTM 450 Rally pilot was extremely quick in the first 131-mile section of the stage’s timed special, but experienced a fuel leak at the start of the second section.

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After a brief fix with the help of his water carrier Jordi Viladoms, Coma was able to rejoin the race. But minutes later he learned of the cancellation of the section section, which gave him not only the stage win, but the overall lead.

Heading into stage five, the Spaniard trailed the man who led the first four days – Team HRC Honda’s Joan Barreda – by just over three minutes. But due to fuel and navigational issues in the first section of Thursday’s timed special, the Spaniard Barreda finished 17th, over 44 minutes behind Coma.

This places Barreda, who won stages one and three, second in the overall rankings,and after five of 13 stages he is 41 minutes 10 seconds behind Coma. In third overall is KTM’s Francisco “Chaleco” Lopez, who finished stage five in 27th.

As for stage five, Viladoms followed Coma to the finish line 12 minutes 54 seconds back, and third went to yet another KTM pilot – Polish rider Kuba Przygonski.

The man who won stage four, Samsung Sherco’s Juan Pedrero, finished seventh in stage five, and is now 14th overall, over two hours behind Coma.

Speaking of stage five, official Dakar reports say “on completion of the first part of the special stage, a 131-mile long section, the comeback king (Marc Coma), who had to miss out on the Dakar 2013 due to an injured shoulder, avoided the many traps into which fell Paulo Gonçalves (who dropped out after his bike caught fire) or Cyril Despres (overheated engine, navigation errors, etc.).

“Since cohesion is a sacred concept for the Catalans, it was natural that his closest pursuer was none other than his water carrier, Viladoms, 13 minutes behind. A gap was opened on Despres, who finished 45 minutes later; on Barreda and Pain, who lost out in similar proportions; and on Lopez, who trailed in more than 50 minutes after.

“The situation seemed to take a turn for the worst at the start of the second section to be covered, due to a leak spotted on the petrol tank of his KTM. However, when on form, Coma enjoys luck as well as his talent. A quick-fix repair carried out with Viladoms already put a small smile back on his face before, several minutes later, the news was announced that the second section of the special stage had been cancelled, meaning the times at the end of the first section stood for the stage results.”

Five-time Dakar winner Despres encountered additional issues Thursday, the Red Bull KTM pilot finishing stage five in 18th, 44 minutes 54 seconds behind his rival Coma. Overall, Despres is in eighth, 1 hour 23 minutes behind Coma. The Frenchman is also known for his comebacks, but this will be a tough deficit to overcome, especially since Coma is so far ahead and will start without any riders ahead of him Friday.

Check out the stage-five action during the “Dakar Rally Series,” which will air on NBC Sports Network at 5 p.m. ET Friday. Wednesday’s stage-four review will air tonight at 5 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. For the entire broadcast USA “Dakar Rally Series” schedule, click here.

2014 Dakar Stage Five Quotes:

Marc Coma (Red Bull KTM 450 Rally) says: “It was another tough day. It was really hot out there. It’s also difficult in terms of navigation as well because of the rain last week which makes it difficult to see anything.

“To get to the end of the stage, I rode for 10 km lost in a river bed. In general, it’s tough for everyone. For the race lead, you can lose lots of time at any moment. When you open the way, it’s a bit like playing Russian roulette.”

Joan Barreda Bort (Team HRC Honda CRF450 Rally) says: “A really, really hard stage. I had a problem on the first kilometers at the start with the fuel system. I lost about twenty minutes there, but after that I could start again and I got back some time.

“Finally, after some difficult navigation I arrived at the finish of the special behind Marc, but the problem was that I had to go back for a way point and I had problems with the fuel again. I lost a lot of time trying to repair this problem. It’s ok because I’m here at the finish and many rivals also had problems. So the race continues and it’s important that we try to do a good job on the next days.”

2014 Dakar Rally: A Look at Stage 6 (Friday, Jan. 10)

Stage 6 will take riders 288 miles from Tucuman to Salta, Argentina (38-mile liaison, 249-mile special).

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